Responding to Data Requests Related to Constrained Natural Language Vocabulary Terms

ABSTRACT

One or more processors generate a data source table. The data source table is specific for a particular constrained natural language (cNL) vocabulary term from a cNL vocabulary dictionary. The data source table includes a location reference to multiple predetermined data sources that contain data related to the particular cNL vocabulary term, where at least two of the multiple predetermined data sources are disparate types of data sources as compared to each other. The data source table also includes a location reference to a materialized view of data from each of the multiple data sources, where the materialized view of data is data that is related to the particular cNL vocabulary term. One or more processors receive a request for data related to the particular cNL vocabulary term from a requester, and then retrieve data from multiple materialized views from the data source table to the requester.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to the field of electronic data sources,and specifically to retrieving data from electronic data sources. Stillmore particularly, the present disclosure relates to retrieving datarelated to constrained natural language vocabulary terms.

SUMMARY

In an embodiment of the present invention, a processor-implementedmethod responds to data requests by a computer system. One or moreprocessors generate a data source table. The data source table isspecific for a particular constrained natural language (cNL) vocabularyterm from a cNL vocabulary dictionary. The cNL vocabulary dictionarycontains multiple cNL vocabulary terms. The data source table includes alocation reference to multiple predetermined data sources that containdata related to the particular cNL vocabulary term, where at least twoof the multiple predetermined data sources are disparate types of datasources as compared to each other. The data source table also includes alocation reference to a materialized view of data from each of themultiple data sources, where the materialized view of data is data thatis related to the particular cNL vocabulary term. One or more processorsreceive a request for data related to the particular cNL vocabulary termfrom a requester, retrieve data from multiple materialized views fromthe data source table, and return the retrieved data to the requester.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a system includes adictionary storage device, a data source table storage device, a datareceiving device, a data retrieving device, and a data transmittingdevice. The dictionary storage device stores a constrained naturallanguage (cNL) vocabulary dictionary, where the cNL vocabularydictionary contains multiple cNL vocabulary terms. The data source tablestorage device stores a data source table, which is specific for aparticular cNL vocabulary term from the cNL vocabulary dictionary. Thedata source table includes a location reference to multiplepredetermined data sources that contain data related to the particularcNL vocabulary term, where at least two of the multiple predetermineddata sources are disparate types of data sources as compared to eachother. The data source table also includes a location reference to amaterialized view of data from each of the multiple data sources, wherethe materialized view of data is data that is related to the particularcNL vocabulary term. The data receiving device receives a request fordata related to the particular cNL vocabulary term from a requester. Thedata retrieving device retrieves data from multiple materialized viewsfrom the data source table. The data transmitting device returns datafrom the multiple materialized views from the data source table to therequester.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a computer program productresponds to data requests by a computer system. The computer programproduct comprises a computer readable storage medium having program codeembodied therewith, where the computer readable storage medium is not atransitory signal per se, and where the program code is readable andexecutable by a processor to perform a method. The method includescreating a constrained natural language (cNL) vocabulary dictionary,where the cNL vocabulary dictionary contains multiple cNL vocabularyterms. The method further generates a data source table, which isspecific for a particular cNL vocabulary term from the cNL vocabularydictionary. The data source table includes a location reference tomultiple predetermined data sources that contain data related to theparticular cNL vocabulary term, where at least two of the multiplepredetermined data sources are disparate types of data sources ascompared to each other. The data source table also includes a locationreference to a materialized view of data from each of the multiple datasources, where the materialized view of data is data that is related tothe particular cNL vocabulary term. The method further receives arequest for data related to the particular cNL vocabulary term from arequester, retrieves data from multiple materialized views from the datasource table, and returns data from the multiple materialized views fromthe data source table to the requester.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary system and network in which the presentdisclosure may be implemented;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary correlation between a constrainednatural language vocabulary dictionary and disparate types of datasources in accordance with one or more embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 depicts a relationship between a constrained natural languagevocabulary dictionary and a novel data source table in accordance withone or more embodiments of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a high level flow-chart of one or more operations performed byone or more hardware devices to respond to data requests related toconstrained natural language vocabulary terms.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like,and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

In one or more embodiments of the present invention, a materializedviews collection provides informatics queries performance enhancement innatural language involving multi-structured data types and multi-sourceddata. The present invention can be applied on any data types, includingbut not limited to structured data (databases), semi-structured data(e.g., comma-separated values (CSV) files, extended markup language(XML) files, log files, etc.), unstructured data (e.g., documents,emails, etc.), and streaming data (e.g., short messages such as“tweets”, rich site summary (also known as really simple syndication)RSS feeds, etc.). As described herein and in one or more embodiments ofthe present invention, the present disclosure relates to the area ofoptimizing informatics queries using constrained Natural Language (cNL)to query multi-sourced data containing multi-structured data types.

With reference now to the figures, and in particular to FIG. 1, there isdepicted a block diagram of an exemplary system and network that may beutilized by and/or in the implementation of the present invention. Notethat some or all of the exemplary architecture, including both depictedhardware and software, shown for and within computer 102 may be utilizedby software deploying server 150 and/or the multiple data source servers154 and/or the requesting device 156 and/or the data source modifyingdevice 158 depicted in FIG. 1.

Exemplary computer 102 includes a processor 104 that is coupled to asystem bus 106. Processor 104 may utilize one or more processors, eachof which has one or more processor cores. A video adapter 108, whichdrives/supports a display 110, is also coupled to system bus 106. Systembus 106 is coupled via a bus bridge 112 to an input/output (I/O) bus114. An I/O interface 116 is coupled to I/O bus 114. I/O interface 116affords communication with various I/O devices, including a keyboard118, a mouse 120, a media tray 122 (which may include storage devicessuch as CD-ROM drives, multi-media interfaces, etc.), a transceiver 124,and external USB port(s) 126. While the format of the ports connected toI/O interface 116 may be any known to those skilled in the art ofcomputer architecture, in one embodiment some or all of these ports areuniversal serial bus (USB) ports.

As depicted, computer 102 is able to communicate with a softwaredeploying server 150, using a network interface 130. Network interface130 is a hardware network interface, such as a network interface card(NIC), etc. Network 128 may be an external network such as the Internet,or an internal network such as an Ethernet or a virtual private network(VPN).

A hard drive interface 132 is also coupled to system bus 106. Hard driveinterface 132 interfaces with a hard drive 134. In one embodiment, harddrive 134 populates a system memory 136, which is also coupled to systembus 106. System memory is defined as a lowest level of volatile memoryin computer 102. This volatile memory includes additional higher levelsof volatile memory (not shown), including, but not limited to, cachememory, registers and buffers. Data that populates system memory 136includes computer 102's operating system (OS) 138 and applicationprograms 144.

OS 138 includes a shell 140, for providing transparent user access toresources such as application programs 144. Generally, shell 140 is aprogram that provides an interpreter and an interface between the userand the operating system. More specifically, shell 140 executes commandsthat are entered into a command line user interface or from a file.Thus, shell 140, also called a command processor, is generally thehighest level of the operating system software hierarchy and serves as acommand interpreter. The shell provides a system prompt, interpretscommands entered by keyboard, mouse, or other user input media, andsends the interpreted command(s) to the appropriate lower levels of theoperating system (e.g., a kernel 142) for processing. Note that whileshell 140 is a text-based, line-oriented user interface, the presentinvention will equally well support other user interface modes, such asgraphical, voice, gestural, etc.

As depicted, OS 138 also includes kernel 142, which includes lowerlevels of functionality for OS 138, including providing essentialservices required by other parts of OS 138 and application programs 144,including memory management, process and task management, diskmanagement, and mouse and keyboard management.

Application programs 144 include a renderer, shown in exemplary manneras a browser 146. Browser 146 includes program modules and instructionsenabling a world wide web (WWW) client (i.e., computer 102) to send andreceive network messages to the Internet using hypertext transferprotocol (HTTP) messaging, thus enabling communication with softwaredeploying server 150 and other computer systems.

Application programs 144 in computer 102's system memory (as well assoftware deploying server 150's system memory) also include aconstrained natural language data management logic (CNLDML) 148. CNLDML148 includes code for implementing the processes described below,including those described in FIGS. 2-4. In one embodiment, computer 102is able to download CNLDML 148 from software deploying server 150,including in an on-demand basis, wherein the code in CNLDML 148 is notdownloaded until needed for execution. Note further that, in oneembodiment of the present invention, software deploying server 150performs all of the functions associated with the present invention(including execution of CNLDML 148), thus freeing computer 102 fromhaving to use its own internal computing resources to execute CNLDML148.

Note that the hardware elements depicted in computer 102 are notintended to be exhaustive, but rather are representative to highlightessential components required by the present invention. For instance,computer 102 may include alternate memory storage devices such asmagnetic cassettes, digital versatile disks (DVDs), Bernoullicartridges, and the like. These and other variations are intended to bewithin the spirit and scope of the present invention.

With reference now to FIG. 2 a system 200 depicts an exemplarycorrelation between a constrained natural language vocabulary dictionary202 and disparate types of data sources in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the present invention. The data sources are stored indata source servers, such as the multiple data source servers 154 shownin FIG. 1.

Constrained natural language (cNL) is similar to natural language, inwhich non-programming entries (i.e., “natural language” for a human) areconverted into computer-executable instructions, thus enabling acomputer to derive meaning from human (i.e., natural language) input.Constrained natural language (cNL) is natural language, with theadditional constraint of the system understanding only natural languageterms (words or phrases) that have been pre-approved. These constrainednatural language terms may be input directly by a user (whounderstands/knows about the constraints), or they may be generated bythe system converting (i.e., paraphrasing) an unrestricted naturallanguage input from the user into a constrained natural language term(e.g., using a lookup table, mapping system, etc.).

As depicted, the cNL vocabulary dictionary 202 holds multiple vocabularyterms. Each of the vocabulary terms within the cNL vocabulary dictionary202 is associated with multiple data sources. Each of the data sourcescontain data that is related to one or more of the vocabulary termsstored in the cNL vocabulary dictionary 202.

For example, the vocabulary term “North America customer” may beassociated with (e.g., “point to”) a database table 204. Database table204 contains data that is relevant to the cNL vocabulary term “NorthAmerica customer”. Database table 204 may include data related to legalregulations relevant to a customer from North America, contracts andcontacts for this customer, current jobs between an enterprise and thiscustomer, etc. As depicted, data is accessed from the database table 204using a first message format, such as a structured query language (SQL)message.

The vocabulary term “North America customer” may also be associated with(e.g., “point to”) customer survey forms 206, which were filled out byan enterprise's customers in North America. Such surveys/questionnairesmay be related to topics generated by an enterprise who is a vendor ofgoods and/or services to the customers, or the topics/questionnaires maybe created by the customers themselves. Note that in this exemplaryembodiment, data from the customer survey forms 206 is retrieved using adifferent format/language than that used to query data from the databasetable 204. More specifically, data from the customer survey forms 206 isretrieved using messages in a JAQL format. JAQL is a query languagedesigned for Javascript Object Notation (JSON). Conceptually, JAQL is apipeline of data flowing from a source, through a set of variousoperators, and out into a sink (a destination). The operand used tosignify flow from one operand to another is an arrow: →. Unlike SQL,where the output comes first (for example, the SELECT list), in JAQL theoperations are listed in a natural order, where the user specifies thesource, followed by various operators used to manipulate the data, andfinally the sink.

The vocabulary term “North America customer” may also be associated with(e.g., “point to”) customer reports 208, which may be filled out by theenterprise who is a vendor of goods and/or services to the customers.Note that in this exemplary embodiment, data from the customer reports208 is retrieved using a different format/language than that used toquery data from the database table 204 or that used to query data fromthe customer survey forms 206. As depicted in FIG. 2, queries for datafrom the customer reports 208 may use Annotation Query Language (AQL)syntaxed queries. AQL is a language for building extractors that extractstructured information from unstructured or semistructured text. Thesyntax of AQL is similar to that of SQL, excepts that AQL iscase-sensitive; allows, but does not require, regular expressions to beexpressed in Perl syntax (e.g., /regex/ instead of ‘regex’); does notsupport advanced SQL features like correlated subqueries and recursivequeries; has a new statement type, extract, that is not present in SQL;does not allow keywords as view, column, or function names; and parsesqueries that are different from the parsing protocol used by SQL.

The vocabulary term “North America customer” may also be associated with(e.g., “point to”) social media data 210 from a social media service,which may have data from short messages, webpage postings, etc. As withrequests to the customer reports, data from the social media data 210 isretrieved using a different format/language than that used to query datafrom the database table 204 or that used to query data from the customersurvey forms 206, such as AQL.

If data from the disparate data sources (e.g., elements 204, 206, 208,210 shown in FIG. 2) were to be directly accessed, the overhead in time,bandwidth, and processing would be very high. If such accesses were tobe performed simultaneously, there is also a likelihood of collisionbetween the disparate accesses, due to different formats, querylanguages, response times, etc. One or more embodiments of the presentinvention address this issue through the use of a data source table.

With reference now to FIG. 3, a system 300 depicts a relationshipbetween a constrained natural language (cNL) vocabulary dictionary 302and a novel data source table 304 in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the present invention. As depicted, the cNL vocabularydictionary 302 contains multiple cNL terms (depicted as “Vocab1”,“Vocab2”, Vocab3”, and “Vocab4”). Each of these cNL terms is associatedwith a dedicated data source table. For example and as shown in FIG. 3,Vocab2 is associated with the depicted data source table 304. Thus, anydata source that contains data related to Vocab2 is referenced bylocation references 306 a-306 d. For purposes of illustration, assumethat location reference 306 a identifies the location (e.g., uniformresource locator, storage device, memory address, etc.) of databasetable 204 in FIG. 2; location reference 306 b identifies the location ofcustomer survey forms 206; location reference 306 c identifies thelocation of customer reports 208; and location reference 306 didentifies the location of social media data 210.

Also included in the data source table 304 are location references tomaterialized data from the data sources. That is, each data sourceprovides specific data related to Vocab2 in the example shown in FIG. 3.This specific data is retrieved and stored at locations 308 a-308 d(e.g., at certain URLs, memory locations, storage devices, etc.) as a“materialized view of the data” (i.e., a copy of the retrieved dataitself). The address of these locations/devices is stored in the datasource table 304. For example, data retrieved from database table 204that is related to “North America customer” is stored as a materializedview of that data in a device whose address is “MV_Vocab2_DS1” (element308 a). This address is stored within the data source table 304, thusallowing the system to quickly access the relevant data at thatlocation.

In one or more embodiments of the present invention, one or more of thePolicies #1-#4 (elements 310 a-310 d) are based on a particular subjectmatter, such as a particular industry, customer, area of science, etc.In one or more embodiments, the subject matter is derived from acontext/meaning of the vocabulary word from the cNL vocabularydictionary 302. For example, assume that Vocab1 is the term “BloodPressure”, thus indicating that Vocab1 is related to the field ofmedicine. Policy #1 may be specific for medical records, which aresubject to confidentiality issues. For example, Policy #1 may requirethat any medical records data have patient names redacted. Thus, Policy#1 is specific for the field of medicine. Similarly, other fields (e.g.,banking, education, etc.) may have special requirements as to how theyare collected and/or stored in the data source table 304. Theserequirements are reflected within one or more of the policies (e.g.,elements 310 a-310 d) in the data source table 304.

In one embodiment of the present invention, cross-mapping between termsin the cNL vocabulary dictionary 302 allows linkage to multiple datasource tables. For example, assume that Vocab1 from cNL vocabularydictionary 302 in FIG. 3 is the term “Blood Pressure” and Vocab2 is theterm “Atrial Fibrillation”. Since “Blood Pressure” and “AtrialFibrillation” both relate to cardiology, then an assumption can be madethat a data source table associated with Vocab1 is also relevant toVocab2. That is, in FIG. 3, Vocab2 is depicted as being directed to datasource table 304. However, if Vocab1 and Vocab2 both relate to the samesubject matter (e.g., “medicine”, or more specifically “cardiology”),then when data related to Vocab1 is requested, a link between Vocab1 andVocab2 will result in a retrieval of data from data source table 304(originally compiled for Vocab2) for the request for data related toVocab1.

Also stored within the data source table 304 are Policies #1-#4(elements 310 a-310 d). In one embodiment, a policy may be related tomultiple data sources/data locations. In another embodiment, each policyrelates to a single data source and/or data location. For example,consider “POLICY #1” (policy 310 a). POLICY #1 defines a policy relatedto how often materialized views should be updated, where the data cancome from, when the data can be extracted from a data source, etc. Forexample POLICY #1 may state that data from data source 1 (ds1) relevantto Vocab2 should be updated every 4 hours, whenever data from datasource 1 is accessed, whenever certain physical conditions are detected,etc. Additional detail of such policies is presented below.

With reference now to FIG. 4, a high level flow-chart of one or moreoperations performed by one or more hardware devices to respond to datarequests related to constrained natural language vocabulary terms ispresented.

After initiator block 402, a constrained natural language (cNL)dictionary is created (block 404). In one or more embodiments of thepresent invention, the cNL vocabulary dictionary contains multiple cNLvocabulary terms.

One or more processors (e.g., processor 104 in FIG. 1) generate a datasource table (e.g., data source table 304 in FIG. 3), as described inblock 406. As described in FIG. 3, the data source table is specific fora particular cNL vocabulary term from the cNL vocabulary dictionary(e.g., cNL vocabulary dictionary 302 in FIG. 3).

The data source table also includes a location reference (e.g., elements306 a-306 d in FIG. 3) to multiple predetermined data sources thatcontain data related to the particular cNL vocabulary term. As describedherein, at least two of the multiple predetermined data sources aredisparate types of data sources as compared to each other (e.g., oneholds data that must be accessed by SQL queries while another holds datathat must be accessed using JAQL queries).

The data source table also includes a location reference (e.g., elements308 a-308 d in FIG. 3) to a materialized view of data from each of themultiple data sources. As described herein, the materialized view ofdata is data that is related to the particular cNL vocabulary term.

As described in block 408, a system (e.g., computer 102 in FIG. 1)receives a request for data related to the particular cNL vocabularyterm from a requester (e.g., a user of requesting device 156 shown inFIG. 1).

As described in block 410, the system retrieves data from multiplematerialized views from the data source table. As described herein, thelocation of these multiple materialized views, which come from disparatesources and/or are disparately formatted, are stored in the data sourcetable.

As described in block 412, the system (e.g., computer 102 in FIG. 1)then returns data from the multiple materialized views from the datasource table to the requester. The flow-chart ends at terminator block414.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the data source table ispopulated with a materialized view refresh policy for each saidmaterialized view of data from each of the multiple data sources. Forexample and as shown in FIG. 3, refresh policies 310 a-310 d are storedwithin the data source table 304. A single refresh policy (e.g., POLICY#1—310 a) may be relevant to only one data source and/or materializedview of data related to a particular cNL vocabulary term, or it may beapplicable to multiple data sources and/or materialized views of cNLvocabulary terms.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the materialized view of datafrom each of the multiple data sources is then updated according to thematerialized view refresh policy. The materialized view refresh policymay be invoked by various actions/conditions in accordance with variousembodiments of the present invention.

For example and in one embodiment of the present invention, a refresh ofone or more materialized views of data is triggered by a content changeto one or more of the data sources. That is, any time that data from adata source (which has been mapped to/deemed related to a particular cNLvocabulary term) changes, then the location of that updated data isrefreshed in the data source table, thus ensuring that the mostaccurate/recent location of the materialized view of the related data iscontained within the data source table.

In another example and embodiment of the present invention, a refresh ofone or more materialized views of data is triggered by a new access ofone or more of the data sources. For example, assume that the networkinterface device (NIC) 160 in FIG. 1 detects a communication sessionbetween a data source modifying device 158 and a data source server(from the multiple data source servers 154) that supports one or more ofthe data sources. Assume further that a keystroke detector device 162associated with the data source modifying device 158 detects a keystrokeentry in a data source modifying device 158. The computer 102 will thendetermine, based on the communication session detected by the networkinterface device and the keystroke entry detected by the keystrokedetector device, that the data source modifying device has accessed oneor more of the data sources. This will thus trigger a refreshing of thedata source table 304 in FIG. 3, to include a refreshment of thematerialized view location (e.g., elements 308 a-308 d) found in thedata source table 304.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a refresh of one or morematerialized views of data by one or more materialized view refreshpolicies is triggered based on a change detected by a sensor in a datasource server that supports a data source, wherein the sensor detects aphysical condition of the data source server. For example, assume thatsensor 152 is a thermometer that measures a temperature of one of thedata source servers 154. If the temperature rises beyond a predeterminedlevel, this may indicate that a hard drive within the data source serveris being accessed repeatedly, thus indicating that the data to bematerialized is changing.

In another example and embodiment, assume that sensor 152 is anatmospheric pressure sensor, which is able to detect a real-timealtitude (i.e., distance above sea level) of a data source server (e.g.,an on-board computer on an aircraft). Assume further that cNL vocabularyterms within the cNL vocabulary dictionary 202 in FIG. 2 are related tooperational conditions of the aircraft (e.g., airspeed, engine RPMs,fuel consumption, etc.). When the aircraft reaches a certain altitude,these conditions are likely to change, thus triggering the rule tomodify the location (e.g., a reserved location in memory from oneaddress to another address) of the materialized view of data related tothe operational conditions.

In another example embodiment of the present invention, the sensor 152is a positioning sensor, which determines a physical location of thefirst communication device 154. For example, assume that a globalpositioning system (GPS) device (not depicted) within sensor 152determines that a data source server (e.g., a tablet computer) from themultiple data source servers 154) has moved from one location to anotherlocation. Assume further that data related to cNL vocabulary terms arecustomer-specific, and that the user of the tablet computer has traveledfrom a first customer's location to a second customer's location. TheGPS will then direct the data source server (tablet computer) to obtaindata relevant to the second customer, and/or to erase data relevant tothe first customer. Thus, the materialized view of data relevant to thecNL vocabulary term will change, as will its location (e.g., element 308a in FIG. 3), as triggered by policy 310 a.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the materialized view refreshpolicy is matched and implemented according to a type of data sourceserver that supports a particular data source. For example, assume thata first data source server from data source servers 154 in FIG. 1 is ablade server chassis, and a second data source server from data sourceservers 154 is a tablet computer. The refresh policy for refreshingmaterialized (i.e., retrieved) data related to the cNL vocabulary termswill be different for the blade server chassis and the tablet computer.For example, the refresh policy for the blade server chassis may be torefresh the materialized view every 30 minutes if the blade serverchassis supports thousands of users. However, it is unlikely that atablet computer would provide such data to many, if any, other systems.Alternatively, the tablet computer will be mobile while the blade serverchassis will not. Thus, the rule for the tablet computer may be relatedto changes in location, which would not be applicable to the bladeserver chassis.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the type of data sourceserver can be provided by a universal unique identifier (UUID) fromwithin one of the multiple data source servers 154 shown in FIG. 1. Amonitoring device (e.g., transceiver 124) receives a device type signalthat identifies the type of data source server. For example, assume thatthe device type signal generator (DTSG) 164 receives a UUID found in oneof the multiple data source servers 154 (the UUID is not shown in FIG.1), thus identifying that data source server as a laptop computer. Dueto its portable nature and limited (compared to a blade server chassis)computing power, this laptop computer will have a refresh policy (forrefreshing materialized views of data relevant to the cNL vocabularyterms) that is specifically tailored to laptop computers.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a system responds to datarequests. A dictionary storage device (e.g., hard drive 134 in FIG. 1)stores a constrained natural language (cNL) vocabulary dictionary, whichcontains multiple cNL vocabulary terms. A data source table storagedevice (e.g., system memory 136 in FIG. 1) stores a data source table,which is specific for a particular cNL vocabulary term from the cNLvocabulary dictionary. As described herein, the data source tableincludes a location reference to multiple predetermined data sourcesthat contain data related to the particular cNL vocabulary term, whereat least two of the multiple predetermined data sources are disparatetypes of data sources as compared to each other. The data source tablealso includes a location reference to a materialized view of data fromeach of the multiple data sources, where the materialized view of datais data that is related to the particular cNL vocabulary term.

A data receiving device (e.g., transceiver 124 and/or network interface130 in FIG. 1) receives a request for data related to the particular cNLvocabulary term from a requester (e.g., a user of requesting device 156in FIG. 1). A data retrieving device (e.g., processor 104) retrievesdata from multiple materialized views from the data source table. A datatransmitting device (e.g., transceiver 124 and/or network interface 130)returns data from the multiple materialized views from the data sourcetable to the requester.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the data source table ispopulated with a materialized view refresh policy for each saidmaterialized view of data from each of the multiple data sources. Thesystem further includes a network interface device (e.g., NIC 160 inFIG. 1) on a data source modifying device (e.g., data source modifyingdevice 158). The network interface device detects a communicationsession between the data source modifying device and a data sourceserver (e.g., from the multiple data source servers 154 in FIG. 1) thatsupports one or more of the data sources. A keystroke detector device(e.g., keystroke detector device 162) on the data source modifyingdevice detects a keystroke entry in a data source modifying device. Inone or more embodiments of the present invention, the keystroke detectordevice is a mechanical device that changes mechanical counters wheneverit receives a signal indicating that a user of the data source modifyingdevice 158 is typing on a keyboard within the data source modifyingdevice. One or more processors (e.g., processor 104 in FIG. 1) determinethat the data source modifying device has accessed one or more of thedata sources based on the communication session detected by the networkinterface device and the keystroke entry detected by the keystrokedetector device, and then trigger a refresh of one or more materializedviews of data by one or more materialized view refresh policies, suchthat the refresh is triggered by the data source modifying deviceaccessing said one or more of the data sources.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the data source table ispopulated with a materialized view refresh policy for each materializedview of data from each of the multiple data sources. The system furtherincludes a sensor (e.g., sensor 152 shown in FIG. 1) on a data sourceserver that supports the data source. The sensor detects a physicalcondition, such as location, temperature, pressure, etc., of the datasource server. One or more processors then trigger a refresh of one ormore materialized views of data by one or more materialized view refreshpolicies based on a change detected by the sensor in the data sourceserver.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the data source table ispopulated with a materialized view refresh policy for each materializedview of data from each of the multiple data sources. The system furtherincludes a device type signal generator (e.g., DTSG 164 in FIG. 1) thatis coupled to a data source server, where the device type signalgenerator identifies a server type of the data source server. One ormore processors then match and implement the materialized view refreshpolicy according to the server type of data source server.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention, aprocessing system is improved by reducing execution time for informaticsqueries. This reduced execution time occurs since data in pre-fetchedand pre-calculated materialized views for each of the data sources arebeing accessed via locations described in the data access table, insteadof fetching and processing the data on-the-fly. As described herein, thematerialized view tore pre-fetched aggregated data based on thevocabulary of the cNL dictionary. Furthermore, the present inventionimproves the functionality of a processing system since materializedviews can be stored in locations closer to the analytics platform (e.g.,an analytical system such as computer 102 in FIG. 1), thereby reducingnetwork latency. That is, data related to the cNL vocabulary terms doesnot need to be fetched from actual data sources, which are likely to beremote and distributed, but rather from local and/or centralized storagesources as materialized views, which are readily available frominformation in the data source table described herein.

As described herein and in one or more embodiments of the presentinvention, each term in a constrained Natural Language (cNL) vocabularydictionary (e.g., cNL vocabulary dictionary 302 in FIG. 3) is associatedwith a collection of materialized views (e.g., data source table 304 inFIG. 3). The materialized view stores pre-fetched aggregated data basedon the vocabulary of (e.g., terms within) the dictionary. By using thevocabulary in the cNL vocabulary dictionary, an identification of whichmaterialized views to query is made. In one or more embodiments, thesystem described herein uses parallel query execution to execute thequeries against the identified materialized views, thus queryingmulti-sourced data with multi-structured data types simultaneously(i.e., in parallel). That is, as depicted in FIG. 2, disparate types ofdata sources (e.g., data from a database table 204, data from customersurvey forms 206, data from customer reports 208, social media data 210)are from different sources (and thus are multi-sourced data) and are indifferent formats/structure (and thus are multi-structured data types).The present invention allows access to all such multi-sourced datahaving multi-structured data types simultaneously.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the presentinvention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” areintended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearlyindicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms“comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification,specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations,elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence oraddition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations,elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of various embodiments of the present invention has beenpresented for purposes of illustration and description, but is notintended to be exhaustive or limited to the present invention in theform disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent tothose of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope andspirit of the present invention. The embodiment was chosen and describedin order to best explain the principles of the present invention and thepractical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the artto understand the present invention for various embodiments with variousmodifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

Note further that any methods described in the present disclosure may beimplemented through the use of a VHDL (VHSIC Hardware DescriptionLanguage) program and a VHDL chip. VHDL is an exemplary design-entrylanguage for Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), and other similar electronicdevices. Thus, any software-implemented method described herein may beemulated by a hardware-based VHDL program, which is then applied to aVHDL chip, such as a FPGA.

Having thus described embodiments of the present invention of thepresent application in detail and by reference to illustrativeembodiments thereof, it will be apparent that modifications andvariations are possible without departing from the scope of the presentinvention defined in the appended claims.

1-10. (canceled)
 11. A system comprising: a dictionary storage devicefor storing a constrained natural language (cNL) vocabulary dictionary,wherein the cNL vocabulary dictionary contains multiple cNL vocabularyterms; a data source table storage device for storing a data sourcetable, wherein the data source table is specific for a particular cNLvocabulary term from the cNL vocabulary dictionary, wherein the datasource table comprises a location reference to multiple predetermineddata sources that contain data related to the particular cNL vocabularyterm, wherein at least two of the multiple predetermined data sourcesare disparate types of data sources as compared to each other, whereinthe data source table comprises a location reference to a materializedview of data from each of the multiple data sources, and wherein thematerialized view of data is data that is related to the particular cNLvocabulary term; a data receiving device for receiving a request fordata related to the particular cNL vocabulary term from a requester; adata retrieving device for retrieving data from multiple materializedviews from the data source table; and a data transmitting device forreturning data from the multiple materialized views from the data sourcetable to the requester.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the datasource table is populated with a materialized view refresh policy foreach said materialized view of data from each of the multiple datasources, and wherein each said materialized view of data is associatedwith a different materialized view refresh policy.
 13. The system ofclaim 11, wherein the data source table is populated with a materializedview refresh policy for each said materialized view of data from each ofthe multiple data sources, and wherein the system further comprises: anetwork interface device on a data source modifying device, wherein thenetwork interface device detects a communication session between thedata source modifying device and a data source server that supports oneor more of the data sources; a keystroke detector device on the datasource modifying device, wherein the keystroke detector device detects akeystroke entry in the data source modifying device; one or moreprocessors for determining that the data source modifying device hasaccessed one or more of the data sources based on the communicationsession detected by the network interface device and the keystroke entrydetected by the keystroke detector device; and one or more processorsfor triggering a refresh of one or more materialized views of data byone or more materialized view refresh policies, wherein the refresh istriggered by the data source modifying device accessing said one or moreof the data sources.
 14. The system of claim 11, wherein the data sourcetable is populated with a materialized view refresh policy for each saidmaterialized view of data from each of the multiple data sources, andwherein the system further comprises: a sensor on a data source serverthat supports a data source, wherein the sensor detects a physicalcondition of the data source server; one or more processors triggering arefresh of one or more materialized views of data by one or morematerialized view refresh policies based on a change detected by thesensor in the data source server.
 15. The system of claim 11, whereinthe data source table is populated with a materialized view refreshpolicy for each said materialized view of data from each of the multipledata sources, and wherein the system further comprises: a device typesignal generator coupled to a data source server, wherein the devicetype signal generator identifies a server type of the data sourceserver; and one or more processors matching and implementing thematerialized view refresh policy according to the server type of thedata source server.
 16. A computer program product for responding todata requests by a computer system, the computer program productcomprising a computer readable storage medium having program codeembodied therewith, wherein the computer readable storage medium is nota transitory signal per se, and wherein the program code is readable andexecutable by a processor to perform a method comprising: creating aconstrained natural language (cNL) vocabulary dictionary, wherein thecNL vocabulary dictionary contains multiple cNL vocabulary terms;generating a data source table, wherein the data source table isspecific for a particular cNL vocabulary term from the cNL vocabularydictionary, wherein the data source table comprises a location referenceto multiple predetermined data sources that contain data related to theparticular cNL vocabulary term, wherein at least two of the multiplepredetermined data sources are disparate types of data sources ascompared to each other, wherein the data source table comprises alocation reference to a materialized view of data from each of themultiple data sources, and wherein the materialized view of data is datathat is related to the particular cNL vocabulary term; receiving arequest for data related to the particular cNL vocabulary term from arequester; retrieving data from multiple materialized views from thedata source table; and returning data from the multiple materializedviews from the data source table to the requester.
 17. The computerprogram product of claim 16, wherein the method further comprises:populating the data source table with a materialized view refresh policyfor each said materialized view of data from each of the multiple datasources; and updating the materialized view of data from each of themultiple data sources according to the materialized view refresh policy.18. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the method furthercomprises: populating the data source table with a materialized viewrefresh policy for each said materialized view of data from each of themultiple data sources; detecting, by a network interface device, acommunication session between a data source modifying device and a datasource server that supports one or more of the data sources; detecting,by a keystroke detector device, a keystroke entry in the data sourcemodifying device; determining that the data source modifying device hasaccessed one or more of the data sources based on the communicationsession detected by the network interface device and the keystroke entrydetected by the keystroke detector device; triggering a refresh of oneor more materialized views of data by one or more materialized viewrefresh policies, wherein the refresh is triggered by the data sourcemodifying device accessing one or more of the data sources.
 19. Thecomputer program product of claim 16, wherein the method furthercomprises: populating the data source table with a materialized viewrefresh policy for each said materialized view of data from each of themultiple data sources; and triggering a refresh of one or morematerialized views of data by one or more materialized view refreshpolicies based on a change detected by a sensor in a data source serverthat supports a data source, wherein the sensor detects a physicalcondition of the data source server.
 20. The computer program product ofclaim 16, wherein the method further comprises: populating the datasource table with a materialized view refresh policy for each saidmaterialized view of data from each of the multiple data sources; andmatching and implementing the materialized view refresh policy accordingto a type of data source server that supports a particular data source.